Distorted Chambers In The Realm Of Dreams - Chapter 20

Mars Or The Moon (A New Red Planet)

There was a graying, menacing sky that served as a backdrop for some tower, raised up in some long ago scene. Nearby walls were cast in shadow. As if recalling some tragedy, I uttered;

Like wind through fallen autumn leaves,
all scattered about the doors and corners
So shall the halls of this place be likewise abandoned,
a gray, dull silhouette that only echoes with the song of death.

Indeed, the structure was a dull silhouette against a gray sky that promised an oncoming storm. The overhanging storm and sky were now covered in a calm, warm night. The scene changed to other outer walls, but it was still a warm night.

I was attentive to the conversation about Kosovo and Russian troops. Mom and I were speaking of these things while treading across a structure that was a balcony walkway held up by massive support arches like a highway bridge would have. We were heading for some convenient store for some snacks. Off in the distance I saw three pyramids across a sandy stretch of land and we stood upon a cobblestone road or a brick path of some sort as we walked off the balcony pathway toward the store.

This was also lined atop concrete and ran ten to twenty feet above the sand, like a bridge. As we walked I looked up at what I thought was the planet Mars. The surface was red. Mom said casually that it was the moon. I looked again and wondered why the moon was so red. The dust and sand there was as red as Martian lore and the sand below our feet as yellow and bright as the sun.

I wondered again if it really could be Mars and how dangerously close to Earth it was orbiting. It was massive in the sky.

"Remember that prophecy? About the moon turning red?" I asked Mom.
"Maybe, I don't know." She replied.

Then suddenly Mom walked off. I didn't even see where she went off to. I was standing there by myself gazing at the red globe as it hung there almost at horizon level. Silent and ominous.

It lingered there, mute and oblivious. Then all at once I saw quakes upon the surface, the red planet hovering above Earth was tearing itself apart. The grounds afar were being ripped and severed from within.

The gashes revealed pure darkness and the marks on the surface began to take on such a jagged appearance that the quakes splintered over the mass of the surface facing toward Earth. The tears formed three major long lines that swirled at the ends. The gashes revealed nothing beneath the surface. I looked in awe until it just went dark, then faded into a thick cloud of black atmosphere. Nothing could be seen after that. I looked for Mom and the others. They were not around.

I went to the convenient store that was abandoned but was still open. I grabbed a drink and looked over at the nearby pyramids. They were aglow from the light of the sand that lay stilled upon the Earth. Nothing was phased by the red giant body next to the earth.

I thought I was the only one who witnessed this. There was no sign of anyone else. I wasn't in the present time though. I knew I was somewhere else.

Circa 1998